Early years SA was founded in 2001 by the merger of the
Autonomists and the
Autonomist Federation (FA). The Autonomists originated in the Valdostan section of the
Italian People's Party, one of the successors of
Christian Democracy, while the FA was formed by former
Progressive Democratic Autonomists as well as former
Socialists and
Republicans. In the
2003 Valdostan regional election, SA received 19.8% of the vote and In the 2003–2008 term, the party controlled five seats in the Regional Council. Of the five regional councillors, four were former members of Christian Democracy and one was a former Republican. In 2004, the FA re-gained its independence from SA. From 2001 to 2006, SA was represented in the
Chamber of Deputies by
Ivo Collé, elected on the
Aosta Valley coalition (VdA) ticket, formed also by the
Valdostan Union (UV) and the
Autonomist Federation (FA). In the
2006 general election, SA's
Marco Viérin ran for the Chamber, but the VdA coalition was soundly defeated by the centre-left
Autonomy Liberty Democracy (ALD) list.
The regionalist coalition In the
2008 regional election, SA, which included some candidates of the
Union of the Centre (UdC) in its list, won 11.4% of the vote and four regional councillors (out of 35), while the three-party
regionalist coalition won 62.0% and a large majority, composed of 22 regional councillors. In the
2013 general election,
Rudi Marguerettaz, secretary of SA since 2001, was elected to the Chamber. Soon after the election, Marguerettaz chose to team up with
Lega Nord (LN) and became vice president of the "Lega Nord and Autonomies" parliamentary group. Consequently, Marguerettaz stepped down from secretary and the party was led by a provisional executive. In March 2015, Marguerettaz would break ranks with LN and join the "Linguistic Minorities" sub-group within the
Mixed Group, formed by the
South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) and the
Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party (PATT). For the
2013 regional election, the party confirmed its alliance with the UV and SA, and formed a joint list with
Lega Nord Vallée d'Aoste (LNVdA). In an election in which the UV lost a quarter of its votes and FA its entire representation in the Regional Council, SA increased its share of vote to 12.2% and its number of regional councillors to five. Thanks to SA's result, the regionalist coalition retained its absolute majority in the Council. In July 2015, the regional government, led by UV's
Augusto Rollandin, was enlarged to the centre-left
Democratic Party (PD), and in June 2016 by the
Progressive Valdostan Union (UVP).
Recent events In May 2016,
Carlo Marzi was elected secretary of the party, three years after Marguerettaz's resignation from the office. In March 2017, SA left the government and, along with the UVP,
Autonomy Liberty Participation Ecology (ALPE) and
For Our Valley (PNV), formed a new government without the UV, under President
Pierluigi Marquis (SA), including another SA member, Stefano Borrello, as minister of Public Works. This led two regional councillors,
Mauro Baccega and
André Lanièce, to quit the party and launch the
Valdostan Autonomist Popular Edelweiss (EPAV). Marquis' government lasted only until October 2017, when a new government led by
Laurent Viérin (UVP), composed of the UV, the UVP, the EPAV and the PD, was formed. In the
2018 general election, SA took part within the
For All alliance, along with ALPE and PNV, but the list was defeated in both races (Chamber and Senate). In the
2018 regional election, SA formed a joint list with PNV; the list obtained 10.7% and four seats (two for SA and two for PNV). After the election, the Regional Council elected
Nicoletta Spelgatti of LNVdA as President, at the head of a broad left-right coalition, comprising SA–PNV, ALPE,
Mouv' and one defector from UV's ranks. In the new government Borrello was confirmed as minister of Public Works, along with PNV's Claudio Restano at Tourism, Sports, Commerce and Transports. However, in December the government fell down and was replaced by a new one led by
Antonio Fosson (PNV), at the head of a coalition composed of the UV, the UVP, ALPE, SA and PNV. Under Fosson, Borrello was again appointed minister of Public Works. In December 2019 Fosson resigned from President and was replaced by his Vice President, UV's
Renzo Testolin, as acting president, with Borrello retaining his post as minister. In the
2020 regional election, the party won 8.9% of the vote; this was in a joint list with the
Valdostan Alliance (AV), a brand new party formed by the merger of the UVP and ALPE. The list obtained four seats: two for SA (Marquis and Marzi), one for former UVP member
Luigi Bertschy and one for former ALPE member
Albert Chatrian. After the election, SA joined a regionalist/centre-left government led by UV's
Erik Lavévaz and composed of the UV, the
Democratic Party (PD),
Civic Network (RC), AV and
Mouv'. Marzi, who continued to serve as party's secretary, was appointed minister of Finances, Innovation, Public Works and Land issues, while AV's Bertschy was appointed Vice President, as well as minister of Economic Development, Formation and Labour. AV and SA soon broke, with the former joining forces with United Aosta Valley, mainly comprising Mouv'. In April 2022, the party was left with only one regional councillor, after Marquis switched to
Forza Italia. In November 2022, during a party congress, SA elected its new leadership, notably including a new secretary,
Ronny Bobey, and a new president,
Luisa Trione. In March 2023, AV joined a new government led by UV's Testolin, which, differently from Lavévaz's, comprised also
For Autonomy (PlA). In July 2024, rumors came out of a coalition between SA, PlA, the
Valdostan Rally (RV) and the cross-party association named "Evolvendo" after they had rejected the invitation by
Sovereign Aosta Country. In October, these parties alongside
The Valdostan Renaissance started negotiations for a "centrist, liberal-democratic and reformist" coalition. In March 2025 SA, PlA and the RV officially launched the
Autonomists of the Centre; Evolvendo and
Esprì were also involved in it without being represented on the symbol. In the
2025 regional election the list obtained 14.1% of the vote and six seats, of which three for SA and one each for PlA, the RV and
Action. After the election, outgoing president Testolin of the UV, which had come first with 32.0%, formed a new government, composed also of the AdC – including SA and Action, but not PlA, while RV's
Stefano Aggravi was elected president of the Council of the Valley – and
Forza Italia (FI), with Marzi as regional minister of Health and Social Policies. ==Leadership==